I picked up this book in one of my favorite stores and couldn't put it down. A book that includes Evelyn Waugh, Emile Zola, and Nora Ephron writing about food is impossible to resist. The title made me realize how long it's been since I've shared any stories from my kitchen, and it sparked an urge to start doing that again. I haven't been cooking very much, or spending time in my kitchen making things from scratch like I used to, but I'm working on changing that. This book has been kind of a first step in that direction.

This afternoon, I was in particular need of a pick-me-up, and decided to make myself a very virtuous cup of hot chocolate to sip on while curling up with the book and getting lost in the stories. It's not cooking at all, but it's homemade and works wonders. This also isn't a recipe at all, but some general instructions for healthful hot chocolate: blend homemade cashew milk, a few heaping spoonfuls of raw cacao powder, some vanilla bean, cinnamon, half a date, and coconut oil until completely smooth, then gently heat on the stove. (This works best in a vitamix, because you can really blitz the date, and use the soup setting if you don't want to use the stove.)